


you light me up inside like the fourth of july

by annabetncnase



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabetncnase/pseuds/annabetncnase
Summary: the fireworks date we never got to see
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 25
Kudos: 160
Collections: Camp Counselor Stories





	you light me up inside like the fourth of july

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to torie @vll8586 for betaing!!!

Annabeth took her ponytail down and then put it back up. Then, she took it down again. In the mirror, she saw a couple of her siblings staring at her and her battle with her hair, so she just gave up, blushing.

It wasn’t a big deal anyway, right? It was just Percy. They were best friends, and it’s not like this was an actual date.

Right?

 _No,_ she told herself. People go to the fireworks as friends all the time, and that’s what they were. Just friends. But if that was true, why did his eyes widen like that when she asked him out? And why did he grin shyly and look away when she mentioned it after capture the flag was over?

She didn’t have an answer, and she really wished she did. Everyone kept telling her he obviously liked her back, but she shook her head and told them to shut up every time. Of course, she wanted them to be right, but she was sure the lightness of that hope would be greatly surpassed by the pain of it being misguided.

She tried to erase these thoughts and walk out of her cabin confidently. The fact that Percy was sitting on the stairs waiting for her didn’t help ease the butterflies in her stomach.

“Hey,” she greeted, swallowing her nervousness.

He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled upon spotting her on the porch, and her heart did a million backflips. “Hi.”

“Ready for the fireworks?” Annabeth asked.

“Yeah, I’m really excited. Beckendorf told me they’re doing some new tricks this year.”

“So I’ve heard. Where do you wanna sit?”

Percy thought about it for a few seconds. “What if we sit really close to the ocean?”

“Uh, then we’ll get wet.”

He raised both of his hands. “Um, hello? Son of Poseidon?”

“So you’re just gonna be controlling the water the entire time?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s not that hard.”

“Okay,” Annabeth agreed. “I guess we’ll have a good view.”

“Exactly.” Percy grinned.

They walked to the beach side by side and conversation was easy and natural, which was a rare occurrence for them these days. Ever since they got back from Annabeth’s quest, things had been… tense. She’d kissed Percy, then he’d disappeared, then come back and taken another girl on _her_ quest. She was angry and confused, and he was probably angry and confused too. It was nice, though, to forget about those negative feelings for just a little bit and hang out with him like they did before.

Except this didn’t feel like before, because when his hand brushed accidentally against hers, her heart raced and she wished he would just hold her hand. And it wasn’t like she was _opposed_ to the idea of holding Percy’s hand before, but now… she found herself thinking about it more often than not.

They arrived at the beach and dodged the other people who were already sitting on the sand. Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth located Silena and Beckendorf. His arm was around her shoulder, and she was looking at him like he hung the moon. Silena tilted her head up and kissed him, and Annabeth averted her gaze. 

The sight made her happy. Annabeth had seen Silena and Beckendorf skirt around each other for a long time, so she was glad they were _finally_ together. She glanced at Percy walking in front of her and wondered if she’d ever have the same luck.

Percy walked a few feet ahead of everyone else and into where the sand was already starting to get very wet. He stopped and looked around for a moment before turning back to Annabeth.

“This spot good?” He asked.

“Sure.”

He sat down and crossed his legs, and motioned for Annabeth to join him. She hesitated when she saw a wave reaching the beach right where Percy was sitting, but when it was about to reach him, the water went around him as if there was an invisible force field.

He winked at her. “Told you.”

Annabeth smiled and sat next to him, very aware of the fact that their knees were touching.

“They’re closer to the beach this year,” Percy observed.

He meant the boat. The Hephaestus kids went further from the beach to release the fireworks, and they had their own boat that was built solely for that purpose.

“I wonder what they’re doing this time,” Annabeth said.

She didn’t have to wonder for much longer, because a low beep sounded across the beach to announce the program was about to start.

“Welcome to this year’s firework show, everyone,” Jake Mason’s voice sounded through the speakers. “We’ve got lots of new stuff for y’all, but before we start, shoutout to our head counselor for finally getting a girlfriend. Hopefully that’ll be an incentive for, um, the _other_ people in this camp who need to stop playing around. You know who I mean, and- okay, _okay._ I’ll stop. Anyway, let’s get started.”

In the boat, a spot lit up and flew upwards. As it reached its peak, Annabeth prepared for the sound of the explosion— but it never came. She looked at Percy to make sure she wasn’t going crazy, and was met with a puzzled expression that probably matched hers.

“Um,” she said, surprised she could hear her own voice clearly, “was that completely silent?”

“Yeah, I think it was,” Percy responded.

A wave of murmurs erupted from the campers behind them. A few seconds later, Jake Mason’s voice could be heard again.

“As you might have noticed, this year’s fireworks are one hundred percent silent. We’re trying that this year so everyone can, you know, talk, play music, whatever. So, yeah, we don’t know if we’re bringing this back next year, you guys let us know what you think. Enjoy.”

Now that the message was given, another wave of fireworks rippled quietly through the night sky. Someone started playing music soon after that, a song Annabeth didn’t recognize. She looked over at Percy, who had his eyes on the sky. He must have felt her stare, because he turned to her and smiled.

“Pretty cool, huh?” He asked.

“Definitely.”

Annabeth looked down at the sand, and saw that Percy’s hand was laid on the ground next to him. After a few seconds of consideration, she placed hers next to it. She saw Percy’s eyes flicker from the sky to their hands, then back. His fingers inched a little closer to hers, and she mimicked his movement. The tip of one of her fingers touched his. In turn, he tangled it with hers. It was a game they were playing— who is bravest, who will give more, who will take the final step?

Annabeth did. Finally, she properly entangled their fingers. In response, Percy looked at her. She feared she’d gone too far until she saw the soft grin on his face, the one that turned the messy sounds in her brain into an orchestra. She smiled back at him and turned her gaze to the fireworks.

 _Your move,_ Annabeth thought. 

As another explosion of blue lights painted the sky, she felt Percy’s thumb tentatively rub the back of her hand. She was very aware of this fact, as well as of the sound of his breathing and of how they were slowly leaning towards each other. Closer, closer, closer…

An explosion interrupted the quiet music. She and Percy jumped at the sound, letting go of each other’s hands.

“Uh, sorry, guys,” Jake Mason said. “The silencer stopped working, apparently. The fireworks will be loud from now on.”

Annabeth felt water reaching her crossed legs and soaking her shorts. 

“Percy!” She called. “What happened to the water?”

He looked down and realized what had happened. “Oh- gods, I’m so sorry, the fireworks scared me and- I’m sorry, Annabeth. Shit.”

“It’s okay.” She stood up. “Let’s just- do you wanna go sit with our friends in the back?”

Percy looked so clearly disappointed she wanted to just sit back down in the wet sand, but there was no point anymore— whatever had been happening was ruined now. 

“Sure,” he agreed, standing up and making his way to the back. 

Annabeth enjoyed the rest of the night with her friends, but there was a pit in her stomach that never really went away. The whole time, she wished the silencer had never failed so she could still be by the sea with Percy, holding his hand and… who knows what else?

When it all ended, Percy walked her to her cabin. 

“Um, I had fun. Sorry you got wet,” he told her. 

“It’s okay. I had fun too.”

There was a beat of silence. 

“Maybe next time, they’ll be silent the entire time,” Percy said. 

The hopefulness in his tone made Annabeth smile. “Maybe.”

She stepped forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“Good night, Percy.”

“Good night, Annabeth.”

**Author's Note:**

> title from becky g's 'shower'


End file.
